Vial length sorting machine



Sept. 21, 1943. L. w. BUZBY VIAL LENGTH SORTING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May a, 1941 Qwuam fo o LFKWRENCE MBUZBY Sept. 21, 1943.

L. w. BUZBY v VIAL LENGTH SORTING MACHINE Filed May 6, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 21, 1943 poration of 'Illinois The present invention. relatesfto a machine. for sorting, articles according toitheir lengths; and more particularly for separating glass vials of one or more predetermined lengths from others having lengths greater or i ss than those of the desired lengths;

pertain stanclar'cls' of; lengths, have beenadopt} ed 'for various reasonsf sl.ich,j;,foif instance, as

adaptability for packingfl For thisfreason, it is desirable that vials be sorted into lengths within predeterminedlimitsi f0rneftypes of vials are fabricated from "short lengthsfof glass tubing,

the latterhaving been out into the desired lengths from a relatively'longtuber Whilethe cutting *apparatusis reasonably accurate; the short; blanks may wary Somewhat inf lgength. or the vials may'difierin lengthafter shaping there of, necessitating. a sorting of th'e vials after they tooled a m-1am; The resent in e i n pertains to an a"p pa Ltusifors'd 's'prting .vials after they are shaped;

One of the objects oils to pro-, vide a conveying apparatus capable of, carrying a plurality ofvials-into engagementwitn a series of sortingdevi'ce'sffthe latter being succes sively positioned to separate thevialsinto series of predetermined lengths," eachiseries being separated fromfthotliers and deposited insuit able receptacles. 7 J

Another object of the in' ention is the provision of novelgauging means ier separating vials of several lengths.

Other objects will be apparent from the following description of the apparatus taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in

which q Kimble Glass Oompan Application Mi, g; 1s41. s riai N0. 392,157 1 4'Glain1s. (01. 209940)] 31 on shaft I14. "As'the latter shattrotates',

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine for j sorting blanks described'herein;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the machine shown in Fig. 1; I

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 33 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4--4 of Fig. 1

In the drawings, the frame of the machine is shown at l0 and comprises side members H and legs l2. Bracket plates 13 are .bolted on legs I2 and form journals for shafts l4, M, on which are keyed pulleys l5, I5. Shaft M is driven through belt l6, chain It, reductor H, and motor l8, cone pulleys l9 providing for a variety of belt speeds. Belt tightener or idler adjustably fixed on rod 2| insures engagement of the conveyor belt 22 with the pulleys.

At the forward end of the frame there is secured thereto an inclinedho per 23 adapted to over the pulleys and idler is horizontal.

- the uppe fl n 9 bra ik 3 .1 lbwc ien si theseboltsbearing against oppositeiendsof" pulleys.

onfain a up y citrate 'it'arid' a ina ii a 1181 p r io 2.55 desi n d to g d th vials n q i u u a d a e re a ont war a ale' ihef a i si t t" as. on sha gis ne iedi in" braclget 28 i Also securedf to shaft 2'l isian arm 29 'engageable. with .atoothed. wheel r'ca d? i i e it if te'fi. nd. rcl ase'thei h vials in timedfsequence; f lspring 32.;attache to n e t w h cam 11 Attached to conveyor belt 2 2 areffparallel. rows of pins 33, 33", the pins each row beingjspa'ced'ja predetermined distance apart corresponding to arm 2?,andbracket2fi normally urgesafrn-ZB; k;

I the distancebetween'the teeth on cam 3 l'so, that as gate 26 is lifteda vial is deposited; between adjacent sets of pins nthe belt; ems 33' in one The gaugin means {for sorting j the vials. are: mounted in a plurality of Z'-shaped brackets 34f bolted on theframe; Each gauge comprisesa.

row are transversely aligned with pins 33? in: t e;

thin flexible. metalblade SEfheld in a. slotted. bar 36 andfsecured. therein-j by a screw 31. Bolt 38i passingfreely through" an; aperture Satin; the, upperflange ofbraclget 34. is threaded into bar;

as so that byturningf port 38' the height of barf 36 may be varied; Further. to secure bar 36in adjusted-position are bolts 4 l, 41-; threaded into;

36. His obvious that, by turning 'boIts 38,

4l', the height of each blade 35 may be varied within desired limits and adjusted accurately to engage vials having lengths greater than length for which the gauge is set.

It will be seen from the drawings that the faceof that portion of the'conveyor belt passing During the gauging stage, however, the belt 22 is so twistthe ed that the face of the belt is substantially .ver-

tical in that portion of its course between the The means for giving a twist to the belt comprise a pair of guide bars 42, 42' engaging the belt and so bent that one edge of the belt is lowered below the tops of the pulleys and the opposite edge thereof elevated above the tops of the pulleys. Guide bar 42 is weldedto a pair of straps 43, 43., bolted to a block 44, the latter forming a rest for the rear face of the conveyor belt and being secured to the frame by bolts 45.

It should be noted that bar 42'is so spaced from block that the conveyor belt is held against the block for sliding engagement thereover. Further to guide the belt are a pair of rollers 45 so separating chutes 43 underlying the gauging blades 35.

The operation of the machine isas follows:

Vials 24 are placed in hopper 23 from which they roll down the channel 25 to gate 25 which re- Each blank 7,

leases the blanks one at a time.

is picked up by a pair of pins on the conveyor belt and turned by the latterto a substantially upright position to be carriedalon'g upper guide bar 42. The gauge blades are set at several heights, being successively higher from the hop r per end of the machine toward the discharge end The longest of the vials areen-gagect by the first blade and tipped into the underlying thereof.

chute. Those vials not engaged by the first blade pass, thereunder. Eachblade removes vials depending on their lengths so that the vialsare sorted into batchesjthose in each batch being approximately the ,samelength'. It is thus possible toseparate vials which fall within prescribed limitsfrom those'the length of which is greater or. less-than the dimensions required by the trade.

The machine has been described in some detail, but it is to be understood that changes therein may be made without departing from the principles of the invention. i i

Having described my invention, what I claim as new'an d desire to secure by Letters Patent is: -1. Apparatus for separating glass vials of varying lengths comprising a belt conveyor, means projecting from said belt for. spacing and main taining the vials in parallel relation thereon, a pair of spaced horizontallydisposed pulleys supporting said belt in a portion of its course, a guide member supporting the face of said belt in a.substantially vertical position in another portion of its course,,means for guiding said belt toturn the face thereof fromits horizontal position to'its vertical position and for holding said belt against said guide member, means for depositing the vials on a horizontal portion of said belt, and meanspositioned above the vertical portion of the belt and engageable with vials of a predetermined length to remove vials so engaged from the belt.

2. Apparatus for separating glass vials of varying lengths comprising a belt conveyor, means projecting from said belt for spacing and maintaining the vials in parallel relation thereon, a pair of spaced horizontally disposed pulleys supporting said belt in a portion of its course, a guide member supporting the face of said belt in a substantially vertical position in another pbrtion of its course, a plurality of twisted bars for guiding said belt to turn the face thereof from its horizontal position to its vertical position and for holding said belt against said guide member, meansfor depositing a single vial on the horizontal portion of said belt between each of the'belt and engageable with progressively I :shorter vialsto remove vials so engaged from the belt.

3. Apparatus for separating glass vials of varying lengths comprising a belt conveyor, means projecting from said belt for spacing and maintaining the vials in parallel relation thereon, means for guiding said belt with its face in a substantially horizontal position in a portion of its course and in a substantially vertical position in another portion of said course, certain of said guidingmeans, acting as a support for the vials, means for depositing vials on said belt,. and a pluralityof means positioned above the vertical portion of said belt at predetermineddistances above said support and engageablewithprogres sively shorter vials successively to remove vials so engaged from the belt. l

4. Apparatus for separating glass vials of varying lengths comprising a belt conveyor, means rojecting from said belt for-spacingand maintaining the .vialsin parallel relation thereon, means for guiding said belt with its face in a substantially horizontal position in a portion of its course and in a substantially vertical position in another portion of itscourse, said guiding means including a pair of spaced twisted bars, means for depositing the vials on a horizontal portion of said belt, one of said bars serving as a support for the vials when the face of the belt is in its vertical position, and-means positioned above the vertical portion of the belt and engageable with vials of a predetermined length to remove vials so engaged from the belt. 1 i

LAWRENCE W.BUZBY. 

